A STORY ON GREEN BAY CATHOLIC CENTRAL, PREMONTRE AND NOTRE DAME...ONE SCHOOL, DIFFERENT NAMES

Back in January of this year, 2026, I inquired if the athletic department of Notre Dame Academy in Green Bay had a season-by-season record of wins/losses on Green Bay Central, Premontre and Notre Dame.  Afterall, the school's name changed over the years, but the program has remained the same   What I received was just a Notre Dame listing 1990-2025.  I then asked for a complete yearly record, because I knew Green Bay Catholic Central had “morphed” into Our Lady of Premontre in the 1960’s and that school combined with others…Green Bay St. Joseph Academy (An all-girls academy) and De Pere Abbot Pennings (An all-boys high school) to become Notre Dame Academy in 1990.  The school only had records for Notre Dame. Still, I knew that there was more to the story.  I figured that the three schools, one continuous football program,’ had at least 400 wins.  As it turns out they have had a lot more victories over the past 85-years than most schools in that timeframe…539.  That places the story of these three in one school’s #18 on the state’s all-time wins list (Noted in the newest updated state records posting).

Now some schools have merged over time with others but there can only be one continuous path and not a two, three or even four-pronged collaboration of records.  Just as an example, Oshkosh High School “morphed” into Oshkosh West to have an all-time record of 506 wins, that morphing occurred because the two schools were declared one or whole when Oshkosh North was built.  There has been just one Catholic high school program in Green Bay since 1941.  The schools have moved because of increased enrollment but the same coaches moved to those new locations.

On September 20, 1941, Coach Marvin “Marv” Miller took 25 of his team, mainly freshmen, sophomores and a few juniors and seniors to Sheboygan to play North High School.  Those young men were raw and untested but they played well.  Down 13-0 in the third quarter Warren Hare scored from the one-foot line for Centrals first ever score.  North scored again an Central went down in defeat.  There would be other losses, 26-0 against Manitowoc, 18-6 vs. Chilton, 19-13 against Menasha St. Mary, a 13-13 tie vs. Algoma and a season final loss to Little Chute St. John.  Central ended with a 0-5-1 record. 

After losing to Algoma 13-0 in the 1942 opener the boys tied both Kaukauna and Kimberly 0-0 before they tasted their first victory, a 19-12 win over Sevastopol.  Another loss, this time to Menasha St. Mary followed by win #2, a 28-0 pasting of Little Chute St. John.  With the season in the books, it about this time that Fox Valley Catholic Conference, the FVCC, was first formed.  Like other things, name changes came along much later when Fox Valley Lutheran High school joined the conference, and it was changed to the Fox Valley Christian Conference.

Marv Miller stayed one more season and Central posted a 2-3-0 record.  Dave Zuldmulder was hired and he left after the 1945 season, having coached the team to a 2-3-1 record.  Magic appeared in 1946 as Norbert “Norb” Christman came onto the scene ad taught the players how to win.  Because Central taught R.O.T.C. (Reserve Officer Training Cadet) the team took on the nickname of the Cadets.  Christman coached the Cadets to 6-2-0 seasons in 1946-48 as they won three consecutive FVCC titles.  He was replaced by Ward Cuff who took the team in his one season to a 6-1-1 record.  The Cadets lost their 1949 opener to a very good Green Bay West team, 13-7, losing late in the game.  There were six consecutive wins, earning another FVCC title before they tied Milwaukee Messmer (One of the top Catholic teams in southeastern Wisconsin) 0-0.  Cuff stayed three more seasons, directing his four squads to an overall 24-4-1 record including the school's first undefeated team in 1950, a 6-0-1 record.

If you are not from the Green Bay area or a Packer historian, the name Ted Fritsch might not mean much to you.  Born in Spencer Ted didn’t start playing football until he attended Central State Teachers College (Now UW-Stevens Point).  He signed as a free agent with the Packers and was a running back and linebacker, playing from 1942-50.  He didn’t serve in the military during World War II due to a perforated eardrum.  He also played basketball in the NBA for the Oshkosh All-Stars and played minor league baseball as an outfielder.  Ted came to Central in 1952.  The newest building of the Central existence was opened in 1955 when Premontre was dedicated.  Ted coached the Cadets from 1952 to 1966 and had a 73-28-4 overall record.  Due to the polio outbreak in 1950 and lasting on and off through about 1956 as well as a severe flu epidemic in 1957, several seasons were cut short.  When he wasn’t coaching or teaching Ted worked for the city parks department.  He was a beloved member of the community.  Ted took a post as director of the city parks in 1966, a position he held until his premature death in 1979 of a heart attack.  The playing field at Notre Dame is named after Ted.

Up next was the Ron Miller era, a 66-20-0 record that included his coaching of one of the states all-time best teams, the 11-0-0 WISAA State Champion Premontre Cadets.  Only Ted Fritsch’s 1955 6-0-0 squad were the schools only undefeated, untied squads.  In eight seasons Millers teams won three FVCC titles, were co-champions once and finished second once.  Despite his winning ways Miller was let go in February of 1976 due to financial reasons and replaced by assistant Dick Hietpas.

Dick would have eight up and down seasons, and his Cadets would go 49-24.  His 1975 team would have an 11-1 record, lose to De Pere Pennings, beat Fond di Lac St. Mary’s Springs twice, once in the WISAA finals for the title. In a 1984 Fond Du Lac Reporter interview Hietpas was non-committal on his termination from Premontre but candid about his many tough matchups against Bob Hyland of St. Mary’s Springs.  Many papers made Hyland out to be a not likable person but Hietpas said that Bob was just intense.  Hietpas said he held no grudges after his dismissal. 

Bob Collins had been a head coach at Nicolet before moving on to coach at Cedarburg and then coming to Premontre in 1984.  He spent two seasons with the Cadets and accumulated an impressive 21-5 record.  His charges were twice WISAA runner-up’s, had one FVCC title and one co-championship.  He left to return to Nicolet as an assistant coach and boy’s athletic coordinator. 

The John Nowak years followed and what a success they were.  From 1987-2016 Nowak ruled the roost, winning a WISAA title in 1992 (10-1), three WISAA runner-up squads and when the WISAA disbanded and Premontre joined the WIAA there was more success.  In 2000 the school was the WIAA Division 3 runner-up with 12-2 record.  Three years later the Tritons (Name changed when R.O.T.C. was dropped) won the WIAA D-3 title with a specular 14-0 posting.  Nowak would take his teams to the WIAA playoffs 16-times, another WIAA title in 2015 (12-2).  In his final year, 2016 the Tritons again made it to the finals only to lose in the finals and have another 12-2 record.  Nowak ended his career with a 224-109 record.

Today, Mike Rader, Nowak’s replacement, has molded a 58-28 record.  Despite a down year in 2018 (1-8) Mike has forged great years in 2023 (11-2 level four finalist), 2024 (14-0 state title) and 2025 (13-1 state runner-up) as of late.   

Discrepancies:

I wrote the above story after very meticulous research of the Green Bay Press Gazette, the Fond du Lac Reporter and the Manitowoc Herald-Times-Reporter.  I wrote the coaches records down in an Exel file year-by year from the dates 1941-89.  I added twice and ended up making the same error.  I mis-added by four games into the schools total BUT I didn’t discover the error until had submitted the incorrect total wins into my state record book.  If you look online at:  State Records you will see that I have the school with 543 all-time wins and ranking #16 on the wins list.  I am sorry and it will be corrected in January but by then the school will have a lot more wins from the 2026 season to move up on that posting.

There's another error that I found dealing with Coach John Nowak’s record listed by the WFCA in their all-time coaching records: Coaching Records.  In the listing it has Nowak with a 225-115-0 record…one more victory and six more losses than what I came up with.  Notre Dame had supplied me with the school’s records from 1990 when it became Notre Dame.  It didn’t include Nowak’s 1986-89 seasons.  I have readded multiple times and I feel my Notre Dame records are correct so that are the totals I have listed above. 

One other error but also in the record book When the record book for 11-players was submitted I had missed having Gren Bay Notre Dame's setting the record for most yards by a junior with 3,436 yards. Colin Brunell of Columbus in 2022 run for 2,897. Kingston's 2025 rushing totals will show up in January.

How ever things work out…changes to the records…there is no disputing that the school has a fine record.